The Houston Astros have built plenty through the draft, and the list of successes is a strong one. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell became Hall of Famers. Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa and Lance Berkman all came through the system and helped shape the franchise.
But the draft cuts both ways, and Houston has a few picks it would love to have back.
Three names stand out as some of the biggest busts in Astros history, and each one carries its own kind of regret - whether it was injuries, stalled development or simply a pick that never came close to matching the expectation attached to it.
Mark Appel is the one that still jumps off the page. Houston held the first overall pick in 2013 and used it on the Stanford right-hander, a pitcher they believed could become the next ace of the rotation. At the time, the Astros were rebuilding and betting big on Appel’s size, power and polish.
It never came together in Houston. Appel couldn’t find consistency in the minors and never pitched in a major league game for the Astros. By 2015, the team had moved on and included him in the trade with the Philadelphia Phillies that brought back Ken Giles.
Appel later stepped away from baseball in 2018. Nine years after being drafted and four years after stepping away, he finally reached the majors with the Phillies in 2022.
Jio Mier is another pick that stings, especially when you look at who was still available. Houston took the high school shortstop in 2009, believing it had found a middle infielder for the future. Instead, injuries and uneven offense kept him buried in the minors.
Mier spent eight seasons in professional baseball and got as far as Triple-A, but he never made it to the majors. And the pain of that pick only deepens when you remember that Mike Trout went four picks later at No. 25.
Then there’s Phil Nevin, a name that can feel odd on a bust list because he did have a productive big league career. The catch is that it never happened in Houston.
The Astros took Nevin with the first overall pick and expected a franchise cornerstone. Instead, he played only 18 games for Houston.
In 60 at-bats, he had seven hits, one double, one RBI, seven walks and 13 strikeouts, finishing with a .117/.221/.133 slash line and a .354 OPS. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers during the middle of the 1995 season.
Nevin went on to hit 208 home runs over a 12-year major league career, but all of that production came elsewhere. The miss hurts even more because Derek Jeter was still on the board when Houston made the pick.
With the 2026 MLB Draft only days away, the Astros will be back on the clock early and often. They own two first-round picks, at Nos. 17 and 28, and will be hoping this year’s class adds to the franchise’s long list of draft wins rather than another chapter in its list of regrets.
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Cam Pendinos scouting group now has room to be more aggressive, especially if the board pushes high school talent deeper or college players come with strong NIL leverage in overslot negotiations. Houston also owns two first-round selections, including an extra pick earned through a Prospect Promotion Incentive, and the way the Astros use that added firepower could shape the next wave of their system for years. [Read more 🡒]
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The Astros latest roster shuffle has only sharpened a problem that was already easy to see coming. Joey Loperfido and Jake Meyers were sent to Triple-A Sugar Land, a move that points to Houston needing a left-handed outfield bat and possibly a new answer in center field as the club tries to steady a position that has become harder to ignore.
Bob Nightengale reported that the search may be leading toward the Rockies, where two left-handed outfielders with center-field experience and team-friendly contracts are drawing attention. Both come with appeal, both come with questions, and for Houston the real challenge is finding a fit that solves the immediate need without creating another one somewhere else in the lineup. [Read more 🡒]